A merry evening to you all!

Check out this super quick update *the crowd goes wild* Thank you, thank you!

So today I had to lead a board meeting at work, which is not something I normally do but I'm covering a role (as well as my own) while we recruit a new team member. I was so nervous in the build up to the meeting, trying to keep 12 rich old men under control and on topic is never easy, so I did the only thing I could. I donned my highest heels (adding four inches to my 5'3), a black pencil skirt, red shirt and black jacket and strutted into the room like Raydor from her FID days. Yeah dude! And whenever they started to have a disagreement I channelled my inner bad ass Sharon when she's dealing with that rapist in episode 18 'Enough, enough!' So you see, watching Major Crimes has not only enriched my life but it's made me bad ass at my job! But I never want to lead one of those meetings again, they're like 5 year olds on a sugar high.

I'm in a super good mood... maybe I'm on a sugar high... maybe a Raydor high...

Anyhoo...

Thank you to everyone that has reviewed! The response I've been getting from this has been extraordinary and I can't even begin to tell you how happy you have all made me. I hope you enjoy the next chapter and I'll try to get another one out soon. Work is about to get really busy but I'll try my hardest to keep up with regular updates!

I hope you're all keeping well and remember, embrace your inner Raydor!

Lillibet x

p.s. season finale? *head explodes EVERYWHERE!* Tell me what you thought of it! x

Lower than the Ground

"Sharon?"

She looked up at Rusty. They were sitting at the dining room table. Rusty pushed his empty plate away from him and Sharon looked down at the food that still filled her plate. She put her fork down and looked over at him.

"Sorry Rusty, my mind seems to be on other things." She pushed her plate away.

"Do you want something else?" He asked, collecting their plates and taking them to the kitchen. Sharon smiled at him, warmth flooding her stomach as she watched him cleaning up as he knew she liked. "I could make you a sandwich or a salad," he opened the fridge. "Or you still have some of that granola stuff in here."

"I'm fine Rusty," she said. Rusty turned and observed her for a moment.

"Coffee?"

She shook her head.

"Tea?"

"Come sit down," she patted the table where he had been sat.

"Am I in trouble?" He asked as he walked toward her.

Sharon smiled at him. "No."

"Then what's going on?" He sat down and leaned his elbow on the table, his head propped up on the heal of his hand.

"I'm just thinking about the case," she shook her head to let him know she didn't want to talk about it. Her impending interview with Simon Hall had filled her thoughts enough for the evening, and she didn't want him to invade her home anymore than he already had. "Are you looking forward to starting back at school?"

He shrugged. "Yes," he looked down at the glass of water he had in front of him. He twisted the glass around with his free hand. "No."

"It's ok to be nervous," she said to him.

"It's not that, well not completely," he said looking up at her. "So much has changed since I was last there."

Sharon nodded in understanding. "But no one will know what happened if you don't tell them. Your life is exactly that, it's yours. The kids at school don't need to know."

"They'll want to know where I've been..." He took a deep breath and Sharon, now able to see when he was on the verge of panic, touched his shoulder to calm him down.

"You don't have to go back Rusty," she said to him, brushing her finger tips through the hair at his temple. "I only spoke to the school governors because you seemed so eager to get back, but if you're not ready then that's ok."

"I want to finish school though Sharon," his eyes began to fill with tears.

"And you will," she scooted her chair closer to him, her fingers still reassuringly combing through his hair. "But you can continue your course online until you feel ready to go back. I've said it before Rusty, there's no pressure."

"I just... when I think about going back and... and seeing Kris and thinking about..."

"Honey," she moved his head so that he was looking at her. "You've been through more than most of the kids at school ever will in their lifetimes. And through all of that you've also made some very significant self discoveries. I'm proud of you. So proud of you Rusty. Remember that."

"I think I'm going to take a shower," he said quietly. Sharon leaned back and nodded, giving him a loving smile. "Maybe we could watch a movie if you don't have work to do."

She thought about the interview transcripts from Simon Hall's interviews in 1979 that she needed to read. "Sure," she said, knowing she would have to stay up late to read them. Rusty was in a delicate place, more so than he had been when he first came to live with her. His new willingness to show her how much he needed her proved just how much he was changing. He needed her now more than ever. "And we can eat those brownies too."

"I thought you said they were off limits," he smirked.

"I didn't say to who," she smirked and Rusty laughed. He rose from his chair and Sharon followed suit. She picked up their water glasses and was about to take them into the kitchen when Rusty stepped toward her and wrapped his arms around her neck. She awkwardly managed to place the glasses back on the table and she hugged him back.

"Thank you Sharon," he whispered into her hair.

"I'm always here for you Rusty," she said as she rubbed his back. "Even if it seems like there's a lot going on with work I always have time for you. Just talk to me."

"I will," he promised.

"Go take your shower," she pulled back and raised her hands to his cheeks, she looked into his watery eyes.

Rusty looked as if he wanted to say something else but he didn't and she didn't push him. She watched him shuffle down the hallway to the bathroom and once she heard the door close she released the breath she was holding.

-x-

Sharon walked into the visitors room and her eyes locked with Simon Hall's. He smirked, his eyes wandering over her making her feel like her skin was crawling.

"Detective McMurphy, looks like the little girl isn't so little any more," Hall said as she took a seat. Sharon tried to keep her face impassive as she observed the man sitting in front of her.

"Time passes," she said, thankful that she had taken Provenza up on his offer and had him and Sanchez sit in on the interview with her.

"And it's been good to you," he leered. Time had not been good to him. 35 years in jail had left him looking unwell, he was a greyish colour, the patches of hair on his head completely white. He sat leaning to his left and when he moved he seemed stiff; perhaps an old injury acquired during his sentence that had not healed properly.

"Mr Hall," she began, ignoring his statement. "I am Captain Raydor-"

"Raydor? The little girl got married," Hall smirked and leaned forward in his chair.

"-and this is Lieutenant Provenza and Detective Sanchez," she finished, not really listening to what Hall was saying. She knew her best defence in this interview was to not give him the chance to work his way into her head. "Do you know why we're here?"

"Let me guess," he made an act of pretending to think on her words. She sensed the look Provenza and Sanchez shared over her head. "You've looked into the evidence again and you're here to tell me that you made a mistake. I'm free to go." He leaned back in his chair, a smug smile on his face as he watched them.

"I'm afraid not," Sharon smiled and leaned toward him, getting ready to reverse their roles in this game he had set up. "We found your son, Simon," she said, tilting her head to look at him.

"You found Michael?" Hall sat up straight in his chair, his eyes narrowing.

"And he's telling us a very different story to the one you told us," she knew she wasn't sticking to the original plan that she had discussed with Provenza earlier that morning but she found herself wanting to taunt Simon Hall.

"You can't have found Michael," Hall snapped, his cool exterior and smug expression slipping away from him.

"Why is that?" Sharon asked, looking back to Provenza who leaned forward with a smirk.

"Is that because you know Michael's dead?" he asked, in a dark tone that Sharon rarely heard from him.

Hall looked between all three of them, his breathing coming in quick short puffs. His forehead was dotted with sweat and his fingers played with the chain tying his cuffs to the table. "My son is dead?" He shook his head and looked up at the ceiling. "What did that bitch do to him?" He asked, lowering his eyes to Sharon.

"Who are you referring to Mr Hall?" She asked.

"Dorothy!" He spat, throwing himself over the desk only to be stopped by the chain. Sharon felt Provenza's hand on her arm and she noticed Sanchez take a step forward. "She always hated that boy."

"Did she?" she asked calmly. Moving her arm away from Provenza, Sharon opened the file and pulled out the transcript of his original interview. "Because in the interview you gave with my colleague back in 1979, you said that Michael hated your wife. I'm just trying to clarify your point on this." She gave him a smile that told him she wasn't going to let him have it easy.

"They hated each other," he said to her. His smile slowly reappeared and he slouched back down in his chair. "Probably did it in the heat of another argument."

"You mean as you did with your wife?" Sharon asked, pulling a collection of photos from the file. "Or were you referring to these men?" She set the photos out on the table and observed him. His face was tense, his eyes flickering over each of the photos. He reached out to touch one of the photos but once again the chains held him back.

"Who are they?" He asked in a strained voice.

"We were hoping you could tell us," she answered him.

"Me?" He looked up at her with those same pleading eyes that she'd seen when he'd been marched from the court house after his trial. "How would I know?"

"We found these bodies in your basement Mr Hall," Sanchez said in a deep voice,stepping forward with a confident stance. "Tell us who they are."

"I don't know who they are!" Hall said adamantly. "I don't know why they were there!"

"Listen-"

Sharon touched Sanchez's arm softly and he stopped talking. He took a step back, his face still glowering at Hall. This was one suspect who would not be intimidated by Sanchez's tough demeanour. If anything, it would only fuel Hall's enjoyment of the game.

"Simon," Sharon called his attention back to her. "Are you sure you knew nothing about these bodies?"

"I bet it was her," Hall said with a sneer. "I bet Dorothy did it, she probably made Agnes and Michael join in. That's probably why my beautiful son hated her so much."

"Were there ever men in your home? Friends of your children, lodgers perhaps?"

Sharon watched Hall's whole appearance change without warning. His face relaxed and a knowing smile replaced the pleading look. Sharon knew what he was doing. She had watched him carefully through the one way mirror back in 1979, observed his mannerisms. He was getting ready to up the stakes.

"Little Shea."

Sharon froze at the sound of the name and she tried to keep her face neutral. Hall laughed, which told her that she hadn't been successful. Something she did had given her away.

Hall smirked and leered over at her again. "Do you mind if I call you Shea?"

"I'd prefer it if you call me Captain Raydor," she said through tight lips.

"Come on Shea, we're all friends here," he leaned back in his chair, his eyes taking her in. "Or do only certain people get to call you Shea?" He lifted his eyebrows suggestively.

"I think we're done here," Provenza said suddenly. "It's clear he isn't going to cooperate."

"You're only making this harder on yourself," Sanchez said darkly from his corner.

"And here I thought we were having fun," Hall laughed, his eyes still focused on Sharon.

Provenza rose from his seat and Sharon followed suit, collecting the photos and placing them back in the folder. "When you're ready to talk-"

"I know where to find you," Hall said ominously. "I look forward to our next visit, Shea."

Sharon walked out of the room, her head held high, trying not to show how much Hall's taunting had gotten to her. Once the door was closed she let out a shaky breath and turned to her detectives.

"The reports were right," Sanchez started. "The guys a creep."

"Sanchez why don't you bring the car around while we finish up here," Provenza said, giving the younger man a look that asked him to take his time.

Sharon leaned against the wall and watched Sanchez walk down the hallway. Provenza hung around out of her line of sight and she knew what was coming. When Sanchez had disappeared from sight, she tilted her head to the ceiling and sighed.

"How did he know that name?" She asked out loud.

"What does it mean?" Provenza asked gently.

"It's a nickname," she said, hugging the file to her chest and looking down at the ground.

"He could have heard it during the last case," Provenza said with a shrug.

"No," she shook her head and looked up at him. "My father is the only one that calls me that." She suddenly felt sick and she took a deep breath. Provenza stepped closer to her and briefly touched her arm.

"You said it yourself," he said in a quiet voice. "He likes to play games. He's trying to get into your head."

Sharon closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. Provenza was right. It didn't matter how Hall had managed to find out her childhood nickname she couldn't allow him to shake her up. She had ignored her own advice; never let him see you sweat. She opened her eyes and looked at her lieutenant. She gave a nod at his questioning eyes and began to walk toward the exit.

-x-

Sharon sat in the break room with Rusty, a coffee clasped between her hands as she listened to him talking about an essay he was working on for his online course.

"Are you ok?"

Sharon looked at Rusty with a frown but soon realised it wasn't him talking. She turned around in her chair to see Flynn standing in the doorway, watching her. Sharon turned back to Rusty, who was now looking at her with concern.

"Why don't you go see if you can borrow a laptop from Buzz to finish your essay?" She said to Rusty. His eyes lingered on her for a moment and Sharon reached forward to squeeze his hand reassuringly. He smiled slightly then gathered his belongings and left the room. Sharon indicated for Flynn to take his seat.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean for the kid to worry."

"Rusty worries even when there's nothing to worry about," she shrugged and sipped her coffee.

"Provenza told me what happened," he said after a moment. "You ok?"

"It just bugs me," she said leaning forward on her elbows and looking at him. "How did he know?"

"I've been thinking about that," he said, pulling a small note book from the breast pocket of his jacket, and opening it to a page he'd marked. "When you type your name into Google it brings up several cases you worked on. Mostly news reports of Officer Involved Shootings. But I tried typing your maiden name in and I found an old high school photo of you and your swim team. It has a quote from your father under it which mentions your nickname."

Sharon closed her eyes at the memory of it. Her last photo with her swim team before she left for college. "He's been reading up on me."

"What concerns me is why," Flynn said, mirroring her position against the table and leaning toward her. "Why is he looking for information on you? And better yet, how did he know you were even working the case again?"

Sharon eyed him warily. "You're back on Helen, aren't you?"

"Come on Sharon," Flynn sighed. Sharon could see that he was getting frustrated with her reluctance to entertain the thought that Helen Hall could be involved any more than she had confessed. However, in a way that was very unlike him, Flynn managed to keep his annoyance at bay. "You have to admit that it's fishy."

"Simon has been left in that prison to brew over the events of that time," she said to him. "He knew that we would eventually find the other bodies and he knew we would be back to speak to him. He could have heard about it in the news and it wouldn't be the first time the team has been filmed working on the case. He could have seen my picture, read my profile on the LAPD website and made the connections. As far as I am aware, and from the prison records Mike requested, Helen Hall's name has never shown up as a visitor."

"She wouldn't be the first to give a false name," Flynn said through gritted teeth. Sharon sighed and shook her head. They were silent for a moment.

"I spent a lot of time with Helen and Julie when they were girls," Sharon said, her voice sounded vulnerable and she hated it. "And they were little girls. I can't believe that they had anything to do with this."

"How do you know that they haven't mastered the skill of deception like their father?" He asked. Sharon looked down into her coffee and she felt Flynn touch her hand softly.

"I don't," her chest tightened and she felt Flynn's fingers close around her hand.

"Then why is it so hard to believe?"

Sharon looked up at him, taking a breath to keep her tears at bay. "It's just... I have this feeling," she pressed her free hand to her stomach and shook her head. "I don't know... I can't really explain it but I just know, I know, that they didn't have anything to do with it."

Flynn nodded at her words and he smiled slightly. "I learned long ago not to ignore a gut instinct," he said to her. Sharon laughed.

"Which is why you'll keep pushing your theory," she stated. Flynn nodded.

"But if you give the order I'll drop it," he said to her. Sharon looked down at their hands for a moment then squeezed his fingers reassuringly before letting go.

"I'm too close to this," she said, standing from her chair. "I need someone to look into it because I can't..." She felt her throat close up and nervously touched her lips as she looked away from Flynn. She was too emotionally involved with this family, she knew it.

"I've got it," he said, standing up next to her. She felt him place a hand on her shoulder and turn her toward him. "I'll keep working it and if I find anything, I'll let you know."

Sharon nodded and rubbed a hand down his arm. "Thank you Andy," she said as she turned and walked out of the break room.

-x-

"I have something," Tao announced from his desk.

Sharon heard him ask Sanchez to get her and she was already on her way out of her office when he approached her.

"Tao's got something ma'am," he said to her.

"Thank you Julio," she brushed her hand over his forearm as she passed him. "What do you have Mike?"

"Daniel Trenton," Tao jumped out of his chair and ran to the printer. "Disappeared after taking a bus to LA to start his career in the film industry, he was reported missing by his mother when he failed to call her after he got here." He handed Sharon the report he had just printed out and she dove right into it.

"What makes you think it's one of our boys?" She asked. Tao strode to the photographs of the bodies pinned to the murder board. He pointed to the third body.

"Our third body excavated showed evidence of having broken his legs when he was younger. They were professionally set and well healed, Doctor Horton almost missed it."

"Do we have DNA from a living family member?" Sharon asked, ignoring the clatter of coins when Provenza shook his jar at Tao.

"His mother died four years ago and I'm having difficulty tracking down his sister," Tao said as he slotted his quarters into the jar. "But the break to his right leg was so bad that there was metal plating screwed into the bones. Doctor Morales is getting us the serial number and I've already requested Daniel's medical records be sent to us. Once we have the number we'll be able to check them against the surgery information, see if we get a match."

"And if we get an ID on him then it will narrow down the results for the other victims," Sykes said from her desk.

"Yes," Sharon said with a smile. "We'll have a time frame to work from."

"And a possible area to focus on," Sanchez added. "Maybe it was a favourite spot for Hall to pick up his victims."

"Good work Mike," Sharon patted his shoulder and headed back to her office.

Hope you enjoyed! It was really fun to write, especially the section with Simon Hall... what does that say about me? Hmmm.

Thanks for reading and remember to let me know what you thought! xxx